KALAMAZOO, Mich. (April 17, 2014) — Police have arrested a 23-year-old Kalamazoo resident who faces open murder charges following a deadly shooting that happened early Thursday morning at Wayside West, a bar on Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo.

A source told FOX 17 late Thursday morning the suspected shooter is an employee of the bar.

The shooting occurred around 1:30 a.m. At the scene, police found a 23-year-old male victim unresponsive after he was shot. He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police say they are not aware of any other injuries at the scene.

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A person who saw what happened inside the bar told FOX 17 News, “Everything that I saw was that the two guys were argueing (sic), one guy took his glass and smashed it on the other guys face and then seconds later the guy with the glass smashed on his face took out his gun and was walking towards him shooting him multiple times. The look on the shooters face was stone cold. Scariest thing I’ve ever saw. They were right in front of the DJ Booth and everyone was hiding behind bars and under tables and everyone was running out in panic. Screaming.”

“Witnesses at the scene gave a detailed description of the shooter who was arrested shortly after the incident near Lafayette and W. Michigan,” stated a news release from the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Thursday morning.

The following is video shows the suspect’s vehicle pulled over on the side of the road:

John Bolenbaugh said he knew the victim because he played cards with him. He said the man was a good guy who always has a smile on his face. “He unloaded that weapon in that room and bullets were flying everywhere and it was right next to me, my head I’m only a foot or two away from where this guy was shooting,” said Bolenbaugh.

According to Bolenbuagh, the victim was shot five times and as soon as the shooter unloaded the clip the suspect ran out of the bar.

Cody Hartman was with a couple of friends hanging out on what was supposed to be a typical Wednesday night at the bar.

He said, “We were sitting in a booth downstairs, heard the gunshots and everyone freaked out. We saw a lot of people ducking down. We didn’t know what happened. We looked around. The guy shot through the glass. Actually one of our friends had to go to the hospital because he had glass on his face. It was pandemonium. Everyone was going crazy. Everyone ducked down. After they rushed people out of the bar.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety at (269)337-8139 or Silent Observer at (269)343-2100 or go online at www.kalamazoosilentobserver.com.

5 comments

Mark

Tracy this man with the gun was probably a gang banger and been to jail multiple times already. He wasn’t protecting himself in a fight he chased down the kid and unloaded the clip into him. Read other articles.

tracyd112

If the guy had a license to carry the gun legally then by having a glass smashed into his face could have caused him to shoot the other guy To Mark if you had read the story you would have seen it was a bar employee that shot the guy after having a glass smashed into his face.

shocked

I know the employee at the bar.THE EMPLOYEE A GOOD GUY ,HE HAVE SELF RESPECT. HES NO GANG BANGER JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE HAVE LICENSED TO A GUN DONT MEAN THEIR GANG BANGER OR YOU CALL II. WHEN I SAW NEWS I KNEW HE HAVE TO BE DEFENDING HIMSELF…IT’S UNBELIEVABLE HOW YOU CAN WORK SO HARD TO BE A GOOD ,AND A DRUNK CAN COME AND RIP AWAY ALL THAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED .GOD I PRAY THAT YOU PLEASE LET THE POLICE AND PROSECUTORS FIND THIS MAN USING SELF DEFENSE AND PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND , DAMIAN HIT EMPLOYEE IN HIS FACE WITH A GLASS BOTTLE THAT ASSAULT TO DO BODY HARM ..HIS FACE TELL IT ALL BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THEY AINT TRYING SEE THAT BUT ITS THE TRUTH .PLEASE DON’T JUDGE HIM .A MAN HAS DIED BECAUSE OF HIS OWN ACTIONS. THEY DIDN’T SAY NOTHING ABOUT HOW EMPLOYEE FACE HARMED RIGHT NOW THE STORY IS ONE-SIDED STORY .. TALK ABOUT BOTH SIDES COIN … YALL TRYING MAKE IT SEEM LIKE ITS THE EMPLOYEE FAULT BUT DAMIAN THE ONE CREATED THE MESS IN FIRST PLACE BY ASSAULTING THE EMPLOYEE IN HIS FACE …YALL CANT SEE THAT?